Pleurothallis ornata

[harpspiel]

I got this division in a trade, already in bud so I can't take credit, but it seems to be acclimating to my paludarium well. The fringe flutters in the breeze

[Iklaikk]

Gorgeous!
I have an Ornata, it was blooming when we bought it, but it stopped, and I'm not sure why.
Would you mind sharing your growing conditions?

[harpspiel]

It's been in my paludarium for about three weeks now, so it doesn't hate my conditions but I can't say it loves them yet. It's mounted on a cedar branch with a little sphag under the roots, gets misted multiple times a day but in a spot with good airflow so it stays lightly moist, not wet. I stuffed the sphag between the cedar and roots after it blasted a bud and seemed to be too dry. Medium light.

I believe this orchid can bloom at any time of the year, but that often means it will bloom intermittently, so just because it stopped blooming doesn't mean anything is wrong. How do the leaves and roots look?

[Iklaikk]

The roots are super active and green, lots of new growth sticking out everywhere. The leaves seem to be dropping a few, but also putting on new a little faster than it's losing them. They are a lot narrower than the leaves on your plant, and not quite as full looking.
I think my problem is it is drying out too much. I have them in a terrarium that is open on the top, so it gets a ton of airflow. We have a fogger set up so that humidity reaches 100% for about three hours twice a day, but I think it is drying too completely between fogging.
It's been a few months without flowers, so at first I just thought it needed a break, but it has been maybe 6-8 months of just root and leaf growth.

[harpspiel]

Most pleurothallids never want to dry out. If you have long fiber sphagnum around its roots, that's an easy way to tell moisture level - the sphagnum should always be pliable, even if not noticeably wet, and should never feel "crispy".

Lack of blooms could be a fertilization or a light level issue as well. If the leaves are really dark green, might want to move it a little closer to the lights. Well, that goes for Masdies, but I think should apply to other pleurothallids. But I have a Restrepia dodsonii that grows like crazy and just refuses to bloom for me, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[Roberta]

I have found, with these little sequentially blooming Pleurothallids, that a given spike will produce for some months, but eventually poop out. Especially if there are not many of them, there may be a period of some months while it's working on the next set. But then once new spikes grow, it's off and running again.

[Iklaikk]

Thank you both for the advice. I just started fertilizing, and with that watering just a little more, so I will see what that does before changing anything else.
It was a pretty full plant bought from Andy's, and has about 25 spent spikes on it, so not a little thing (comparatively).

Harpspiel, I am really sorry for stealing your thread. That wasn't my intention at all.

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by Iklaikk

Gorgeous!
I have an Ornata, it was blooming when we bought it, but it stopped, and I'm not sure why.
Would you mind sharing your growing conditions?

I finally rebloomed mine after a year. The bloom was correlated with an increase in my watering for what its worth.

[Roberta]

Pleurothallids don't want much fertilizer. They do need good water - and to stay damp. I have one, that I got with lots of old spikes indicating that it had bloomed well in the past, I also took most of a year to get it back in bloom. So patience...

[Tindomul]

What a beauty!!!! And so well named. Is this a cold grower, or is room temperature just fine?

Excellent photos by the way.